Types of Florida Workers’ Compensation Benefits

If you get hurt on the job or suffer from a work-related illness in Florida, you have the right to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. It is important to learn about and understand the many different types of benefits that could be available to you.

For instance, you may be entitled to full payment of your medical expenses. You may also be eligible to receive payments that compensate for a good portion of the wages you lose due to your injury or illness. Benefits also are available for family members who have lost a loved one due to a work-related injury or occupational disease.

Since 1989, attorney Frank M. Eidson has been helping injured and ill workers in Orlando, Winter Park and throughout Florida to obtain the workers’ compensation benefits they deserve. He would be glad to meet with you and explain the types of benefits that may be available to you based on your work-related injury or illness.

Getting started is easy. Just call or reach us online today. We can promptly provide you with a free review of your case.

In the meantime, please review this summary of workers’ compensation benefits that can be sought in Florida.

If you were hurt in a workplace accident in Florida or suffer from a job-related illness, then you are entitled to file a workers’ compensation claim for full coverage of your medical expenses. In other words, you should pay nothing for your treatment, including:

EMERGENCY ROOM CARE

X-RAYS, MRIs, CT SCANS & OTHER TEST

SURGERY

HOSPITALIZATION

MEDICATION

PROSTHETICS

ASSISTIVE DEVICES

ONGOING THE​RAPY & REHABILITATION

Your employer, if self-insured, or your employer’s workers’ compensation insurer should pay all of your medical bills. Unlike health care insurance, you would pay no deductible. You would make no co-payments, either. If you need to travel to get medical treatment, you are entitled to receive mileage reimbursement as well.

Your employer or its workers’ compensation insurer must authorize your treatment. You will need to choose from a list of approved health care providers that your employer gives to you. If you get treatment from an unauthorized health care provider, you could lose your right to benefits.

If you believe you are not getting the care and treatment you need and would like see a doctor that your employer has not authorized, you should contact attorney Frank M. Eidson right away.

The problem that many injured and ill workers face is the loss of income. After all, an injury or illness may keep you out of work for a long period of time. In some cases, it may prevent you from being able to work again.

If your medical condition keeps you from being able to work for seven days, then you have the right to file a claim for lost wage benefits. If your employer or its insurer approves your claim, you should start receiving checks every other week.

In most cases, the amount you receive will be equal to two-thirds of what you earned before you were hurt in a workplace accident or diagnosed with an occupational disease, or 662/3 percent. However, if your injury is deemed to be critical, you can receive 80 percent of your average weekly earnings for up to six months.

Florida places a cap on that amount, which is adjusted every year. In no case can you be paid more than that amount. For instance, if you were hurt or became ill in 2015, your lost wage benefits would be capped at $842 per week – even if 66 2/3 percent of your wages came out to more than that.

THE TYPE OF LOST WAGE BENEFITS YOU RECEIVE WILL DEPEND ON THE NATURE OF YOUR INJURY OR ILLNESS. THESE BENEFITS FALL WITHIN THREE CATEGORIES:

Temporary Total Disability Benefits – You can receive these benefits if your injury or illness prevents you from working at all for an extended period of time. You can receive these benefits until you go back to work or until your doctor determines you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). This means your condition will not improve. You cannot receive these benefits for more than 104 weeks.

Temporary Partial Disability Benefits – You can receive these benefits if you can go back to work but, due to your injury or illness, you are subject to restrictions and can’t earn more than 80 percent of what you did before. You can receive these benefits until your work restrictions are lifted, 104 weeks passes or you have reached MMI.

Permanent Total Disability Benefits – You can receive these benefits if you will continue to suffer from your injury or illness after having reached MMI. The amount you receive in benefits will depend on the impairment rating assigned to you by your doctor. These payments will continue indefinitely.

You can receive these benefits if you are an eligible surviving family member of a worker who has died from a work-related injury or illness. As long as you were dependent on the deceased worker, you should be eligible.

The worker must have died within five years of a work-related injury or illness or after five years of suffering from a continuous disability.

The benefits you receive can include a percentage of the deceased worker’s average weekly earnings. The amount is capped at $150,000.

Additionally, death benefits include up to $7,500 in funeral expenses as well as educational benefits.

To learn more about how the amounts in Florida workers’ compensation benefits are calculated, we encourage you to review our page, “How Much Will You Be Paid in Workers’ Compensation Benefits?”

If you or a loved one would like to discuss the specific facts of your case and learn more about how we can help you, please call Frank M. Edison, P.A., today or reach us through our online form. Our consultations are always free and aimed at providing you with the personalized service you deserve.

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I am a hands-on attorney, investigating personal injury cases personally. To build strong legal cases, I often go on site where accidents occur to gain a better understanding of the facts. Most lawyers won’t do that.​I represent Florida residents in personal injury cases and workers’ compensation cases.